A configuration management database (“CMDB”) is a repository of information related to a system, such as an information technology (“IT”) system. A CMDB includes details of configuration items (“CIs”), which are structural units thereof. A CI may be an abstract data object that represents an entity belonging to the system. The entity may be an IT resource, such as a server, a database, or other hardware and software elements.
An entity of a computer system may have various attributes associated therewith. For example, if an entity represents server hardware, an attribute may be an operating system attribute of UNIX, an IP address attribute of 164.2.3.4, and a MAC address attribute of 35938a48-a6f5-4865-b996-b68c2ffd01bb. These attributes may be reflected in the CI representing the entity. Some attributes may be suitable for identifying an instance of a computer system in the short term. Over the long term, however, computer systems may change. Components of a computer system may be upgraded, replaced, removed, added or otherwise altered, until the computer system has few or no original components left. As components are replaced or upgraded, attributes of the computer system also change, which may be referred to as “system drift.”